I'm co-kick-starter of Humanetainit, a website containing opinions, links and background information on all sorts of environmental issues. It's a lot of fun to do, but man! does it absorb time.

Well, I guess I shouldn't complain. Please come and visit us, drop us a line if you have any suggestions (we are aware of the IE6 problems, we are working on a solution. All decent browsers work, however).

One of the things that hit me like a hammer was that the problems of our world are so humongous. I have been green all my life (well, at least since leaving home when I 18 years old), but I get random stomach aches when I think of the near future. I have a 6 months old son, and although a wealth of opportunities lie ahead, I feel sad about the grimness of what lies ahead.

It does motivate me to get on with my work, but I get a melancholic once in a while. For instance when I saw the devastation of the Amazon forest on Google Earth. That really got to me.

I greet you from a place that will be flooded in a few decades due to global warming.

I am right there with you when it comes to a sense of melancholy thinking about the Amazon. I read an article in National Geographic addressing the issue. Unfortunately, in our current culture, wealth is gained from destroying the earth and ecosystems.

The Amazon produces 20% of the world's oxygen, and, at current rates, will have been completely deforested (with the exception of indigenous tribal lands and national parks - hopefully) by 2035.

I did my own calculations based on current rates, and by 2050 all rainforests will have been destroyed.

Coral reef (the "rainforests of the sea") are also being destroyed at similar rates. Large commercial fish, such as tuna, are on course to be wiped out within our lifetime.

I read a book by biologist E.O. Wilson who quotes a team of experts estimating the extinction of a QUARTER of ALL plant and animal species on the land by midcentury.

The most massive, wide-scale extinction since the end of the Mesozoic Era (dinosaurs) is taking place now thanks to human activity - in particular - civilization.

The future is very grim. More grim than anyone could have imagined. It baffles me why the majority of people don't care. Perhaps it is because mainstream media would not benefit from broadcasting such news - that would involve telling the truth!

@ irkone: add to your info that the seas will be almost empty, 40% of all species will be extinct and that the north pole will be de-iced, all around 2050, and you begin to wonder what will be left for our children.

But now more than ever, do we need to keep faith in our own resilience. We do have something to fight for.